Cleveland Sports Forum

Under the topic, "each team's most difficult roster cut/demotion"

Signed back in 2008 out of Colombia, Giovanny Urshela had a long-overdue breakout campaign last season, batting .280/.334/.491 with 18 home runs and 36 doubles between the Double-A and Triple-A levels.

The 23-year-old third baseman then proceeded to rake in the Venezuela Winter League, batting .398 with three home runs and 22 RBI in 108 at-bats, but he suffered a knee injury in November while sliding into third base.

The emergence of Urshela could have Lonnie Chisenhall on the hot seat this spring, but that will also depend on the former’s recovery from the knee injury. So far, so good.

"He's worked really hard to get himself to where he can go through a normal spring," said Carter Hawkins, the Indians' director of player development, via Jordan Bastian of MLB.com. "We're very excited about the spot he's in right now, given the possible outcomes of the injury."

Urshela is an outstanding defensive third baseman and a much better option than Chisenhall in that regard, but both players have questions about their ability to produce consistently in the major leagues. Between the two players, Urshela is more likely to open the season in the minor leagues.

[since gio is much better defensively and a right hand hitter I think it will be his job sooner or later, unless he stops hitting or Lonnie hits much more consistently]

Agreed Civ looks like we only need a 5th starter 2/3 times in the first month of the season. I'd rather have a healthy Floyd, he can help!

Indians embrace Bauer's scientific approach to pitching

Cleveland alters throwing programs based on right-hander's methods

By Jordan Bastian / MLB.com | @MLBastian | March 6, 2015 + 11 COMMENTS

GOODYEAR, Ariz. --

The Indians have raved about the strides Trevor Bauer has made in keeping the club looped in on the things he is researching in order to improve his pitching. The give and take with Bauer over the past three years has even led to changes within Cleveland's own programs for its young arms.

Since Bauer joined the organization via trade prior to the 2013 season, the Indians have implemented a long-toss program and introduced weighted-ball drills for its Minor League pitchers. Bauer's teammate, Danny Salazar, is among the pitchers who have also bought in to using a shoulder tube, which is a long, flexible pole used for muscle strengthening.

"We want Trevor to be the best pitcher he can be and I want him to get all the information he wants," Indians pitching coach Mickey Callaway said. "And, actually, by him looping us in, we've learned a lot. ... So, him going out and researching, and then us being aware of what he's researching, has really made us a better organization. I think we help each other."

The 24-year-old Bauer spends a lot of time studying the biomechanics and physics behind pitching in order to improve his mechanics and performance. For example, the righty analyzed the axis of spin on his various pitches, using high-resolution, slow-motion video during the process.

Bauer also dedicates a lot of his time to studying training methods to maintain health.

Since coming to Cleveland, Bauer has appreciated the team's open-mindedness when it comes to his methods. He also likes that the Indians not only allow him to pursue his own research, but that the organization has taken some of his work and applied it to the farm sytem.

"Obviously, I believe in it and I think it has a place in development," Bauer said. "To see that they're open to it enough to let me do it, and then research it and make a decision that they want to try it out with other guys is good. Hopefully, I can go out and pitch well enough and kind of be an example of how this stuff does work, because I think a lot of the injuries and a lot of the struggles that we have in professional baseball can be helped with some of this stuff."

Wow, you have to love this story:

From nearly quitting baseball to becoming an All-Star: The story of Cleveland Indians slugger Brandon Moss

GOODYEAR, Ariz. -- Allison Moss could see it in her husband's face. His enthusiasm had disappeared. His lust for life had vanished. Stress had swallowed him whole.

His career, his legacy and his family's well-being were at a crossroads.

"That happy-go-lucky, positive person was gone," Allison said. "I could see his happiness depleting."

An off-day conversation with his wife may have rescued Brandon Moss's baseball career. At one point, he contemplated leaving the sport for a job as a firefighter in Gwinnett County, Ga. At another, he prepared to bid adieu to the big leagues and relocate his family to Japan.

He couldn't chase his major league dream forever.

"He looked at me and said, 'I will never run this family into the ground trying to chase something I feel is unattainable for me,'" Allison said.

"They're serious about this"

The Oakland Athletics promoted Moss from Triple-A in June 2012. He was far from thrilled.

After conversing with Japanese scouts, Moss had decided to pursue a playing career overseas. He had an opt-out clause in his contract and could become a free agent on June 15. Nine days before that, the Athletics came calling.

Moss was disappointed. He stood to earn a more lucrative salary in Japan. Plus, he assumed he would receive a few at-bats with Oakland and then be cast aside. He was all too familiar with that sequence of events.

"I was like, 'This is just going to throw everything off,'" Moss said.

Allison calls herself "a bit of a gypsy," someone who welcomes new adventures. She was on board for life in Japan, though she admitted she was "super nervous" and "really stressed" about raising children in a foreign country. Moss considered it the wisest career choice.

"As much as we all want to play in the big leagues and you want to be on a team that has an opportunity to win, at the end of the day you have a family to support," Moss said. "It's a career. You have to go where the best opportunity to make the most money is when you have a family that you have to support."

Moss had merited the label of a "AAAA" player, one who excels at all ranks of the minors but can't unearth a formula for success at the big league level. He reached Triple-A with the Red Sox organization in 2007. He found himself toiling in obscurity at the same level five years later.

"Once you're labeled something like that," Moss said, "it's really hard to get an opportunity to play every day."

From 2007-11, he compiled a .236/.300/.382 slash line with 15 home runs in nearly 700 at-bats. He bounced between levels with the Red Sox, Pirates and Phillies. Finally, after a torrid start for Oakland's Triple-A affiliate in 2012 -- one that didn't alter his intention to go to Japan -- he earned the call-up to Oakland.

He assumed the worst. He predicted he'd receive a handful of at-bats, a call to the manager's office and a prompt sayonara. He was wrong.

"They gave me every opportunity to play," Moss said. "They ran me out there every single day. I was like, 'Man, they're serious about this. They're really going to let me do this.' Once I realized that, I took off and ran with it. I never thought I would get that opportunity."

"Nothing to lose"

The man with the close-your-eyes-and-swing-for-the-fences mentality had become a shell of his self. Moss spent the 2009 campaign with the Pirates, who instructed him to close his batting stance to prevent timing issues. Moss had previously stood at the plate with his front leg open.

With the modified stance, Moss no longer used his legs when he took a hack. As a result, his power potential plummeted.

"I was more of a slap guy," Moss said. "I think they wanted me to use the whole field more than be a power guy."

In 385 at-bats, Moss clubbed only seven home runs. He returned to Triple-A Indianapolis the following year and his struggles persisted. Finally, Jeff Branson, then the hitting coach for Indianapolis, showed Moss some video from his days in Boston. He pointed out the exaggerated open stance and the fluidity of his swinging motion. Branson suggested that Moss return to his old form.

"He was like, 'Man, you have nothing to lose,'" Moss said. "'I don't know what's going to happen if you keep hitting like this. You're not going to be around much longer.'"

Moss stepped into the batting cage that day. It was like riding a bike. By the end of the season, he had posted an .800 OPS with 22 home runs and 96 RBIs.

"He could've just let me go," Moss said of Branson. ... "But he didn't. He could see that something was different, wasn't right. He invested the time and the energy and worked with me and fixed it. I'm definitely grateful to him for that."
That fear of failure of being everything I could be and not being good enough, that was what kept me from doing it.

"I need a career"

Occasionally, Moss and his wife sat down and addressed the situation. For how long could the high school sweethearts skate by while Moss pursued a stable, big league career?

"Every time he was getting called up, I just saw the stress in his face," Allison said. "He knew that the window was so short."

Moss felt the pressure to perform, to impress every set of eyeballs in the dugout, the front office and around the league. He wondered if he simply didn't possess the array of skills necessary to remain on a major league roster. He considered quitting the game altogether.

"One of my best friends at home is a firefighter," Moss said, "and we were talking about it. He had put in a word for me. It was something I was really thinking about."

Moss had zero experience extinguishing flames.

"I don't know what I'm doing, but I need a career," he said. "I have to have a career."

Instead, he signed with Oakland prior to the 2012 season. He figured if he could inflate his home run total in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League, that could pave the way for him to play in Japan.

Then, he got the call.

Moss joined the Athletics, who had optioned first baseman Daric Barton to Triple-A. Moss assumed he would stay on the big league roster only until Barton solved his hitting woes. After five games with Oakland, Moss was 2-for-13 with a home run. He was miserable. Allison knew it.

The A's traveled to Colorado for a three-game set with the Rockies. Prior to the series, they had an off-day. Moss spent the day with his wife and son. The couple had another one of their career chats.

"I looked at him and I was like, 'Is this what you want? Do you want to play baseball?'" Allison said. "He said, 'Absolutely.' And I said, 'Well just go out there and play like you do in the minor leagues. Go out there and hit the ball as hard as you can and don't change your approach.'

"I told him, 'This is it. This is probably the last opportunity you'll get. Try to make the best of it.'"

Allison noticed that when Moss returned home from a lousy Triple-A game, he acted as though his lack of production was a fluke. When he struggled at the major league level, he reasoned that it was the norm. It developed into a self-fulfilling prophecy.

The solution? Eliminate all of the thinking and over-thinking and over-over-thinking and merely try to swat the baseball beyond the fence.

The next day, Moss socked a pair of home runs in an 8-5 victory. A day later, he clubbed another home run in a 10-8 win. The day after that, he tallied three hits, including a home run, in an 8-2 triumph. The next day, he belted another home run in a 10-2 win.

"I was like, 'This is working,'" Moss said. "She was like, 'See? It's the same game.'"

"This is everything"

Moss parlayed his torrid stretch into an everyday gig. He finished the 2012 season with a .954 OPS and 21 home runs in 84 games. He slugged 30 home runs with Oakland in 2013. His 21 round-trippers in the first half of 2014 earned him a trip to Target Field in Minnesota for the All-Star Game.

There, he encountered his former manager in Boston Terry Francona, who became his new skipper in Cleveland later that year.

"I said, 'I'm so proud of you,'" Francona said. "He had fallen on some hard times in baseball. Things weren't going the way he wanted them to. By his own admission, he was thinking about doing something else. Then you see him sitting at [21] home runs at the All-Star break, making the All-Star team. I thought that was pretty cool."

Moss went home that night and told Allison about the exchange. He appreciated Francona's message. It served as an appropriate depiction of how Moss's career had come full circle.

For years, he trudged along in the minors, wondering if each demotion back to Triple-A would be the one that forces him onto a different career path. And yet, here he was, on the grandest stage, a member of the sport's elite fraternity.

"He was very intent on protecting us and taking care of our family," Allison said. "He told me several times: 'I will never chase something that I feel like I can't do.'

"So there were points that he thought that baseball was something that he couldn't put together at the major league level. He thought that he could, but he thought that he'd never get the opportunity to again."

Now, the Indians will rely on Moss to provide the power that proved he belonged in the first place. He'll bat in the middle of Francona's lineup, with nary a thought of firefighting or playing in Japan coming anywhere near his conscience. The enthusiastic, positive person is back. Moss's happiness has been restored.

"This is everything I've always wanted to be," Moss said. "That fear of failure of being everything I could be and not being good enough, I think that was what kept me from doing it."

Moss to DH today.

No word on when Swisher may be ready, so we can likely count on him on the opening day DL, which is a good place for him, and means a job available for one among: Aguillar, Walters, Holt with outside shot for Ramsay or Hood [unless Francona demands a 13 man pitching staff, which even for him may be overkill].

GOODYEAR, Ariz. -- The Indians have played only a week of spring training games and their pitching depth is already waning.

Off-season addition Gavin Floyd was scheduled to undergo an MRI on Monday. Manager Terry Francona, speaking ambiguously about the injury, said the right-hander was "feeling some things."

"It's very vague and it's actually been in a few different spots," Francona said. "We just want him to get looked at to make sure everything's OK."

Floyd was scratched from his Sunday start. Instead, he played catch on Saturday and Sunday. The 32-year-old has missed most of the last two seasons with a pair of right elbow injuries.

"Going into it, you have to know there's a lot that's been going on in there," Francona said.

Floyd was guaranteed a spot in the Tribe rotation, pending his health. Josh Tomlin, on the other hand, is involved in the battle royale for the final opening on the staff. Tomlin, though, is suffering from inflammation in his right shoulder.

Tomlin said he noticed tightness in the shoulder before his start on Wednesday against the Reds. He pitched through it and, once Floyd was scratched from Sunday's outing, Tomlin was scheduled to follow T.J. House on the mound against the Rangers.

Instead, he, too, was pushed back.

"It just kind of sparked up," Tomlin said. "It's something I've never really felt before, so it's something I'm trying to be precautionary about, especially this early in camp."

Tomlin said it was difficult for him to admit he felt pain, because he didn't want to fall behind in the rotation competition.

"It's only because it's this early in camp," Tomlin said. "If it was something a little later on, I probably could have pushed through it."

The Indians' original plan was to have Corey Kluber, Carlos Carrasco, Trevor Bauer and Floyd occupy the first four spots in the rotation. Then, Tomlin, Zach McAllister, T.J. House, Danny Salazar, Shaun Marcum and Bruce Chen would contend for the final spot. Now, with Floyd and Tomlin on the mend, that depth will be tested.

"When you think you have a lot [of pitching] in December, or too much, go get more," Francona said. "It's the nature of the game. You certainly feel for the players. We would never talk about them as a commodity, because that's not how we feel. But you still have to have depth or it can get in the way of your success."

Hip-hop

Francona penciled Brandon Moss into the No. 4 hole and designated hitter spot in his lineup for Monday. Moss is about five months removed from hip surgery.

"He's been a maniac in his [rehab]," Francona said. "I mean that in a really complimentary way."

Francona said Moss would serve as the designated hitter two or three times before playing the field.
"We're going to have to watch the pounding," Francona said. "We're not going to go back-to-back days for a while. We don't want to hurt him."

Hot corner

Giovanny Urshela feels 100 percent following off-season knee surgery. That much was evident when he socked a pitch over the left-field fence during Sunday's tilt with the Texas Rangers.

"I'm feeling better every day," Urshela said. "I'm trying to get into the game again after three months off."

Urshela, 23, is known for more his defensive ability, though he committed an error when shifted toward the shortstop position during a Prince Fielder at-bat. Urshela batted .280 with 18 home runs and 84 RBIs in 128 games between Double-A Akron and Triple-A Columbus last season. He could be ready for big-league action at some point in 2015.

"It's exciting," he said, "but I try to stay in the moment and not get too excited and try to do more than I can do. I'm always trying to stay level."

Bauer questioned and answers:

Honest question, man. Do you ever feel like you're overthinking on the mound? Carrasco attributes success to not overthinking.

Bauer proceeded to give an extremely thorough and clever answer in a series of Tweets.


I know that question shouldn't make me mad but it kinda does. That term "over thinking" is so annoying. What does that even mean? So if an intelligent person explains why he's doing something and no one else understands it's overthinking.

But if I say I'm not thinking on the mound and give up a run then everyone will say well maybe you should think on the mound. It's such an oversimplification of a complex issue. Obviously you have to think on the mound.

If I have success, great. If not, I am overthinking. And I'm doing nothing different, just the results change. So what gives? Now if someone said I was activating my prefrontal cortex or trying to run a bottom up system from the top down, then we might be able to have a productive discussion but I challenge you to even define what overthinking is.

Where's the line? How do you even quantify something like that? it's just a way for fans who have no idea why something is happening to sound like they know something when they don't. IMHO that'll conclude my rant.

GOODYEAR, Ariz. -- A pair of familiar injuries resurfaced on Thursday afternoon for the Indians.
In a 10-5 loss to the Royals at Goodyear Ballpark, veteran Ryan Raburn exited early with discomfort in his left knee, and utility man Zach Walters was forced from the game with a right abdominal strain. Both bench players dealt with similar issues down the stretch last season with Cleveland.



Raburn, who will turn 34 in April, underwent arthroscopic surgery on his left knee on Sept. 19 last year to repair a lateral meniscus tear. The utility man hit .200 in 74 games in 2014 while dealing with a variety of health issues, but reported to camp this year in good shape and as a virtual lock for the Tribe's bench. Raburn doubled in the first inning and grounded out to end the second, but left Thursday's game before the top of the fourth inning.

"His spike jammed when he was running," Indians manager Terry Francona said. "It's just strictly precautionary. We're going to get him some ice and we'll see how he reacts for [Friday], but there's nothing going on. We just want to take care of him."

The 25-year-old Walters -- acquired from the Nationals at the July 31 non-waiver Trade Deadline last year -- played through a right side injury (intercostal) for most of September with the Indians in 2014. This spring, the switch-hitter was working at positions all around the diamond while competing for a reserve role. Walters left Thursday's game after fouling off a pitch in the fifth inning.

"He said he felt it in his lower back on a ball up the middle," Francona said of Walters, who played second base on Thursday. "And then when he swung, he felt it again. If he takes another swing and he really hurts himself, that doesn't make any sense."

The Indians have said that both Raburn and Walters are day to day.

"Tyler Naquin is the perfect leadoff hitter. He has good speed and has demonstrated an ability to get on base at a high clip. He posted a slash line of .313 / .371 / .424 last season at Akron (AA) and was on pace to eclipse his career high in stolen bases before injuring his hand toward the end of June."

Well, maybe. That SB total he achieved was 14, which is not all that bad a deal. And he does not walk a lot, 29 vs 71 strikeouts in half a season.

Time to start cutting down the numbers in camp.

Since the article that showed Jose Ramirez having a lousy spring, he put together a couple multihit games and last I saw was batting 317. Now I suppose he's one of the stars of March.

by Hoynes

GOODYEAR, Ariz. - A competition for one spot has become a competition for two following the season-ending fracture of Gavin Floyd's right elbow.

If things had gone the way the Indians wanted, Floyd would have stayed healthy and earned one of the top four spots in the starting rotation along with Corey Kluber, Carlos Carrasco and Trevor Bauer. The No.5 starter would have been pulled from a pool of TJ House, Danny Salazar, Zach McAllister, Josh Tomlin and Bruce Chen.

Now those five starters, along with dark-horse candidate Shaun Marcum, are competing for two spots in the rotation.

Floyd was new to the Indians this year after signing a one-year $4 million free agent contract in December. But the pitchers competing against him took no joy in the reoccurrence of the injury that ended Floyd's 2014 season even though it created more opportunity for them.

All pitchers know that their next pitch could be their last.

"Everyone here knows that one starter is down," said McAllister. "At the same time it's tough when you have good guy like Gavin go down with the stuff that he has. Playing catch with him earlier in the spring, it was impressive to watch him throw. It's definitely disappointing when a guy battles through injuries that he has and still has the stuff he has and have it happen again."

McAllister is out of options and manager Terry Francona indicated early in spring training that he was going to make the club as a starter or reliever. In his last appearance, McAllister threw four scoreless innings against Arizona at Goodyear Ballpark on Friday.

"I was probably too amped up the first inning and got out of my delivery a little," said McAllister. "The next three innings, I did a much better job getting the ball down and executing some quality pitches."

While McAllister was facing Arizona, House was on the other side of Phoenix pitching against the Cubs as part of a split-squad day. House allowed one run in 4 2/3 innings. The left-hander gave up a first-inning homer and cruised after that.

"House was good," said Francona. "He's pitching like a kid who is trying to earn a spot on a ballclub."

House is 1-0 with a 2.79 ERA in three appearances, including two starts, this spring.

"It's unfortunate for Floyd," said House. "This is a career choice for us and he's been battling the last two years and you definitely don't want to see something like that. As for the two spots, it comes down to Tito and what he wants to do there. I've got to continue to go out and pitch. Not just pitch, but pitch effectively. When they lay everything out on the table, and pick those five guys, I hope to be one of them."

Tomlin threw two scoreless innings Saturday against the Dodgers after being scratched from his March 8 appearance against Texas with a sore right shoulder. He struck out four and looked good doing it. Then Tomlin went to the bullpen and threw15 to 20 more pitches to simulate throwing three innings.

"My command was there. My arm speed was there," said Tomlin on Sunday. "That was the main thing taken away from Saturday. I felt good on Saturday and feel even better today."

Tomlin thinks there's still enough time in spring training to get the required innings he needs to take a regular turn in the rotation once the season starts.

Salazar has made two starts this spring and hasn't looked good. He didn't get through he second inning Wednesday against Oakland. He'll pitch a simulated game Monday, while Marcum starts against the Royals.

House, Tomlin and Salazar have minor league options left.

Chen, 37, signed a minor league deal with the Indians just before the start of spring training. He's competing for a spot in the rotation or bullpen and Saturday started against the Dodgers for a flu-stricken Carrasco.

The left-hander allowed three runs on seven hits in four innings.

Francona said it doesn't make sense to handicap the competition in mid-March when the season doesn't start until April 4.

"If you would have handicapped it last week, we would have said there was one spot," said Francona. "Well, how there are two spots. If you try to make a decision on March 15 for April 4, you don't have all your information yet. So it's not going to be a good decision."

So let the competition continue.

GOODYEAR, Ariz. -- Trevor Bauer pitched five solid innings and Carlos Santana and Francisco Lindor homered, but it wasn't enough for a victory Sunday at Goodyear Ballpark.

It took a two-out single by David Murphy in the seventh inning to break a 2-2 tie as the Indians beat San Diego, 4-2.

Murphy, who hit .360 with runners in scoring position last season, singled to left field to score Michael Martinez from third base. Tyler Holt pinch ran for Murphy, stole second and came around to score for an insurance run on an error.

Lindor brought the crowd of 5,418 to its feet with an inside-the-park homer in the third inning. It was his first homer of the spring.

"That wasn't an inside-the-park homer it was an outside-the-park homer," said manager Terry Francona, "but the wind kept it in the park. It was hard to see because of the sun, but once he saw the ball rolling around, he started sniffing it.

"About the last 15 feet, I don't know if that was a dive or exhaustion, but he has a lot of ways to help you win a ballgame. He can use his legs, make plays in the infield. Not only is a talented player, but he's a mature player for his age."

Nice outing

Bauer pitched five good innings, but he left with a tie score instead of a lead when Wil Myers homered off him with two out in the fifth. Myers was just about the only San Diego hitter who gave Bauer a problem as he reached on an error in the first and doubled in the third.

At the start of camp, Bauer said he wanted to concentrate on throwing more strikes. Well, he threw 42 of his 54 pitches for strikes against San Diego. He struck out four and didn't walk a batter.

Power and speed

Santana started the second with a his second homer of the spring, a drive over the right field wall to tie the score, 1-1.

Lindor started the third with another homer, but this one did not include a jog around the bases.

He hit a long drive to the 410 foot mark in center. Myers appeared to have trouble with the sun and the ball hit off his glove.

Lindor never broke stride as he rounded the bases for an inside-the-park homer and a 2-1 lead. Lindor, who came into the game hitting .300 (6-for-20), has five extra base hits this spring.

He dove across the plate, but the throw was way up the first baseline.

Old problem

Myers, after a 10-pitch at-bat, reached on an error by third baseman Lonnie Chisenhall to start the game. Myers sent a bouncer to Chisenhall, who backed up to play the ball instead of charging it and playing it on the short hop.

Chisenhall made a high throw to first for his second error of the spring.

Matt Kemp doubled to score Myers and give the Padres a 1-0 lead.

"I don't know if he had any other way to play that ball," said Francona. "It was a tough play."

First start in right

Right fielder Brandon Moss made his first start in the field Sunday. He went 1-for-2 with a double. Moss has four hits in eight at-bats this spring.

Two of the hits have gone for homers, one for a triple and one for a double. He needs a single to hit for the cycle.

What's next?

Right-hander Shaun Marcum will face Kansas City right-hander Yordano Ventura at 4:05 p.m. ET in Surprise, Ariz. Indians.com will carry the game.

Scott Atchison, Kyle Crockett, Charles Brewers, Dustin Molleken and Bryan Price are scheduled to follow Marcum. Danny Salazar will be pitching in a simulated game at the Indians training complex in Goodyear on Monday.

Charles Brewers, Dustin Molleken and Bryan Price are scheduled to follow

Why keep them in camp? Don't we have enough pitchers who are competing to make the team to complete seven nine inning games a week?

PEORIA, Ariz. -- Carlos Carrasco, with a rotation spot guaranteed, pitched into and out of trouble Thursday night against a good-looking Seattle lineup.

TJ House isn't guaranteed anything and he wasn't as fortunate as he allowed four runs in three innings in Seattle's 5-2 victory over the Indians.

Carrasco, who missed his last Cactus League start with the flu, allowed one run on six hits in 3 2/3 innings. He left with the bases loaded in the fourth after throwing 58 pitches. Bryan Price relieved and ended the inning on a liner to left.

"It had been about 10 days since his last start," said manager Terry Francona. "He pitched into some jams and got out of them. That's not necessarily a bad thing at this time of year."

House is competing for one of the two open spots in the rotation. In his first three appearances this spring, he's struck out 10 and not issued a walk in 9 2/3 innings. The opposition was hitting .143 against him.

In the fifth inning Thursday, House allowed a two-run double to Robinson Cano and an RBI single to Dustin Ackley. He gave up another run in the seventh.

"He was getting on the side of some balls so it was cutting instead of sinking," said Francona. "I'm sure on his side day they'll get him on top of the ball."

Good D

Third baseman Lonnie Chisenhall, shifted over to shortstop, made a diving stop against Seth Smith for the second out in the third. The stop was highlight-reel material, but the speed in which Chisenhall got to his feet and the accuracy of his throw to first was just as good.

You could tell he still has some shortstop blood flowing through his veins.

With the bases loaded and no one out in the fourth, Carrasco was in deep trouble. But Ackley sent a grounder to first that Carlos Santana grabbed and threw home for the force.

Yan Gomes sent his relay throw back to first at the speed of sound and somehow Santana caught it and stepped on first to complete the double play. If he hadn't caught the ball, it may have hit Ackley in the back of the head and who knows what would have happened.

"It was a difficult play," said Santana, "but I was anticipating it."

Said Francona, "If we're playing in the regular season, that's a play that saves a game. I don't know if Santana knew he caught it on the return from Gomes, but that as a heckuva play."

Kyle Seager, Logan Morrison and Ackley opened the second with three straight singles off Carrasco for a 1-0 lead.

"I thought those were good pitches," said Carrasco.

The Indians loaded the bases against Taijuan Walker in the second with one out. But Walker struck out Jose Ramirez -- in what had to be one of the worst at-bats of the Cactus League season -- and retired Erik Gonzalez on a fly ball to left.

Michael Brantley pulled the Indians in to a 1-1 tie with a two-out single in the fifth. Last year Brantley led the AL with a .376 batting average with runners in scoring position.

Gonzalez, who opened with a single, scored.

Lindor strikes again

In the ninth, prospect Francisco Lindor made it 5-2 with a homer to right field. "He sat there for eight innings, give him a bat and he whacks one," said Francona. "He's been fun to get to know. I looks like his future is pretty bright.
"We tell every young guy to try and take advantage of every opportunity. He's certainly done that and then some."
Lindor is hitting .310 (9-for-29) with two homers and three RBI.

Mac attack

Zach McAllister, after throwing an inning in the bullpen, started the eighth and retired the side in order with two strkeouts. In his next appearance, McAllister will pitch four innings as a starter. He is a candidate to make the rotation or bullpen.

What's next?

Right-hander Trevor Bauer faces the Angel lefty Hector Santiago at 10:05 p.m. EST at Goodyear Ballpark. The game will be carried on Angels webcast.

Anthony Swarzak, Kyle Crockett, Austin Adams and CC Lee are scheduled to follow Bauer.